Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?
by LiteratiAngel
Summary: Welcome to your first year in college, Upper East Siders, and it’s off to a potentially explosive start. It looks like E is coming back into fashion, but not the illegal kind, although Blair might wish otherwise." Not slash despite the pairing . R&R!


**Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Gossip Girl, do you honestly think I'd be writing fanfiction? No? Didn't think so...**

**Disclaimer Take Two: I also don't own Auld Lang Syne (where the title was taken from)...and I actually don't know who _does_ own it either. Sorry about that. If anyone knows, pm me...I'm quite curious now...**

**A/N: Ok, so this is my first Gossip Girl fic, although one of my Gilmore Girls fics was very loosely based on the whole Rufus/Lily/Bart love triangle. This is pretty much season 3 canon based. It _should_ be compliant to past storylines, I just wanted to add a little extra bite to the whole Chuck/Carter hate thang and make life a bit more difficult for Chuck and Blair, 'cause no matter how much I love them, they shouldn't have it so easy...it's just not natural for them! To be brutally honest, I have no idea where I'm going with this as yet. It's just been swirling around in the big bag of weird that is my brain for a while now and I felt it was time to commit this sucker to paper...or at least a Word document...so here it is!**

**A/N Take Two: This is a little something for Jamie (yet again xD) since you're starting to remind me a little bit of Chuck...I love you anyways, though.**

**A/N Take Three: I'll shut up after this...honest! All reviews are greatly appreciated so, once you've finished reading this, have a go at pushing that purdy li'l button at the bottom of the page. Still not tempted? Sure? There might be some juicy gossip (or Bendels goodies) in it for you...(I kid unfortunately...I have nothing interesting to tell anyone and I certainly can't afford _anything_ from Bendels! xD)**

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_Welcome to your first year in college, Upper East Siders, and it's off to a potentially explosive start. It looks like E is coming back into fashion, but not the illegal kind, although Blair might wish otherwise. A certain Ms Baizen is back to grace our presence with her Gucci, Manolos and maybe just a little bitch warfare? It's always hard to deal with exes, B…especially if they come in 'peace'…_

_And what of Lonely Boy? We hear he's not so lonely after all, with a mystery girl rumpling his sheets last night. Has Chuck Bass taken on a protégé? We never thought his interests lay in Brooklyn but perhaps he's keeping it in the family after the incident with Little J, and his 'tête-à-tête' with V last summer. Play nicely children, Mommy always taught you to share…_

~*~

"_I wonder what Carter thinks of his sister coming back…"_ mused Blair Waldorf contemptuously, assessing her boyfriend's reaction carefully.

Chuck Bass flinched almost unnoticeably. _"Relax, Blair. It's only Essie. It's not important."_

His answer did nothing to soothe her and his use of the bitch's nickname certainly didn't help matters. He caught her eye and realised that he needed to smooth things over. _Fast._

"_Blair, I love you, ok? Whatever happened between me and…"_ He gritted his teeth _"_her _doesn't matter now. It's history, just like me saying _'I'm Chuck Bass' _isn't an excuse anymore. I have no idea if Baizen gives a crap that she's back and I don't care either way so stop fishing…Ok?"_

She nodded slowly and nuzzled into his neck, but no matter what he said, it didn't relieve that gnawing feeling in her stomach that _someone_ might tempt him back to his old ways. He's right; _'I'm Chuck Bass'_ isn't an excuse anymore…and the bitch is going down.

~*~

Dan Humphrey had a headache. It wasn't a dull throbbing, or occasional flashes of pain; it was a full-blown head-splitting mallet of a migraine…and it wasn't going away, no matter how many painkillers he drowned himself in.

"_Urgh, I need a coffee…"_ he muttered, clenching his head in his hands.

"_Mmm…make one for me too, would you, sweets?"_ Dan started at this and looked around warily. A tall, slim girl was wrapping herself in his sheets and getting off the bed. She wandered around his room, taking it all in and as she did this he assessed her surreptitiously. Chocolate brown hair that came to just above her chin and was mussed lightly from sleeping on it, a long, straight nose, rosebud mouth and hazel eyes. She stretched, curving her spine and letting the sheet slip down slightly from underneath her arms. His mouth gaped open like a goldfish's.

Esmerelda Baizen felt thoroughly satisfied with herself. She loved how she could still have this effect on guys; besides, it had stood her in good stead for several years now. She always knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it. Oh, it might _look_ unintentional when she revealed just enough flesh to get his pulse racing but it was most definitely deliberate. She couldn't deny it; she liked the reaction. It varied from guy to guy but it was just differing degrees of the same outcome. She shook her head very slightly, acknowledging to herself that this wasn't what she came back to New York to do. She'd changed, she'd found a new lease of life and was ready to enjoy it. _Monogamy. _She wondered if she could truly manage it…

"_Dan! Are you here? Dad wants to know if you've left any syrup laying around…we're making pancakes!"_ called a voice from the hall.

"_Shoot! That's my sister, sorry…I'll see if I can head her off…"_ he muttered another apology and started pulling on some trousers but he was too late and a blonde girl walked into the room.

"_Dan…?"_ she stopped, seeing Esmerelda. _"Um…Dan? Can I talk to you for a second?"_

"_Uh…sure, Jen."_ He mouthed _'Sorry'_ at his guest and followed his sister from the room.

"_Do you have _any_ idea who that _is_?"_ she hissed when they were out of earshot, torn between disgust and awe.

"_Um…no, not really…"_ Hmm, not really the answer he wanted to give his little sister when she'd just walked in on a morning after sequence.

"That," said Jenny, pointing at the bedroom door, _"is_ Esmerelda Baizen!"

"_So?"_ he asked, with a shrug. At least he had a name to go back in there with.

"SO?!" she screamed, shocked at her brother's lack of knowledge and interest in the Upper East Side socialites.

"_Jen, keep you voice down, will you!"_

_"Dan, that girl is heiress to the Baizen fortune! She dropped off the map about two years ago and the last anyone knew about her, she was in Monaco, dating the prince!"_

"_Wow…bit of a downward slide into Brooklyn, huh?"_ he said with an arrogant smirk.

"_Dan, I promise, you do not want to be seen with her…especially not near Blair…"_ she warned.

"_Why? How is Blair planning on running my life now?"_ He was tired of listening to Blair Waldorf's society rules.

_"Because she used to date Chuck."_

"_Chuck? As in _Chuck Bass_?"_ He almost laughed. Almost.

_"Yeah."_

"_Seriously? I thought he only kept it in his pants for Blair!"_ This time he couldn't hold back the laughter but the look Jenny shot him was warning enough to make him shut up.

_"Apparently not."_

_"Look, Jen, thanks for the sisterly advice and everything…"_ He was all too aware of his _'friend'_ sitting in the next room.

_"But…?"_

_"But I've got a guest and…"_

_"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm gone. In fact, I was never here."_ She shook her head exasperatedly. _Brothers. Urgh._

~*~

Serena van der Woodson shoved her way through the throngs of people clamouring to get off the subway and made her way towards the Humphreys' loft. She wasn't ready to explain to Rufus why she had dropped out of Brown but she desperately needed a place to crash and Dan seemed like the obvious choice. She surprised herself with this thought; ex-boyfriends weren't normally the ones you turned to when the shit hit the fan but she supposed that there was _nothing _normal about their situation whatsoever, especially considering the fact that they would be step-siblings in the next month or so. This was not the time to become prudish about the fact that the guy who's dad your mom was marrying has seen you naked…and not just in the shower like that one time when Chuck…_Urgh…No!_

She turned the key in the lock and opened the door without bothering to knock. She knew Dan wouldn't care.

_"Dan? Are you home? I _really_ need somewhere to crash!"_

He walked out of his room looking a little shifty, but she ignored it.

_"Not really the best time, Serena…I'm sorry…you could, uh, come back later, maybe?"_

_"Um, ok, I guess I could do that. What's going…"_ She didn't finish her sentence, though, because at that moment, a girl wandered out of Dan's room and into the kitchen…_wearing Dan's shirt_…but that wasn't even the weirdest part…

"Essie…?"

~*~

_Looks like it's a day for old acquaintances, S, but does Blair know about Lonely Boy's little house guest? Time to sharpen those claws, girls. We all know that a woman doesn't like to be scorned…_


End file.
